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Port Phillip Bay

Multiple Seahorses During The Marine Biology Cruise

January 15, 2019 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

This was probably the most phenomenal part of the recent marine biology cruise that Seth and I did. I love seahorses but have never seen them in the wild before. I’m fairly certain some of them are a shorthead seahorse but other than that, I’m totally out of my depth.

I do know that seahorses/sea dragons will be a priority when I start snorkelling and diving.

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Filed Under: Port Phillip Bay

Multiple Aplysia Parvula Specimens On The Marine Biology Cruise

January 13, 2019 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

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At first I was excited, thinking I had sighted my first nudibranch. Alas, it is another sea hare. Still fascinating. [Read more…] about Multiple Aplysia Parvula Specimens On The Marine Biology Cruise

Filed Under: Port Phillip Bay

Sea Life Discovered On Marine Biology Cruise

January 11, 2019 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

The main goal of the marine biology cruise was to see what sea life we could discover among the seaweed under the water. There was a lot of diversity in the type of sea life we found. It was a crowded boat of 20 (plus staff) and we were passing around buckets. I didn’t get the best photos as I was trying not to be a nerd and to let the other families get a good luck. As such, a lot of these won’t have the name of the animal. I’m prioritizing my health and need to earn an income currently so working as hard to identify animals. It’s hard for me, as I love the process… but I’ll need money to do more exploring 🙂

53-20190108_135049 [Read more…] about Sea Life Discovered On Marine Biology Cruise

Filed Under: Port Phillip Bay

Marine Biology Cruise Around Port Phillip Bay

January 9, 2019 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

I love gannets. I enjoyed photographing them in Portland a couple of years ago as well as the ones I’ve been following every time I go to Eastern Beach. They fascinate me. I’ve been keen to visit the colony at Popes Eye in Port Phillio Bay for years now. I haven’t been able to justify the cost considering, well, I’m project. Chronic migraines didn’t help.

When the opportunity to do a marine biology cruise around the bay came up, I phoned up immediately. I’ve been trying to get my nephew and I on one of these trips for year but they always get booked out quickly.

This time… we were lucky! And it only cost $10 each, compared to $70+ for a tourist-type of cruise. Awesome!

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Filed Under: Port Phillip Bay

Touring Port Phillip Bay With South Bay Eco Adventures

March 27, 2017 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Last week, I decided to go on an impromptu trip with South Bay Eco Adventures. The conditions in Port Phillip Bay had been fantastic for wildlife lately and they had posted on Facebook about a pop up explorer tour. Armed with a $100 voucher (courtesy of my parents and Santa), I jumped at the opportunity. The voucher meant that I’d only be $20 out of pocket and it would be one of the last opportunities to get out on the bay before many businesses close for the winter.

It was one of the best trips I’ve gone on. It was phenomenal. Great weather, great wildlife and great team.

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The explorer tour is a 2 1/2 hour tour exploring both inside and outside of Port Phillip Bay. I had been eyeing off their discovery tour, because of the gannet colony at Popes Eye, but decided on this because it is no longer offered as a regular tour. Going outside the bay meant there was more potential for new birds and mammals. I’d only added about 5 birds to my life list in the past year, and only one to my mammal.

I also wanted to suss out Port Nepean without having to catch a ferry.

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We came across a pod of Burrunan dolphins shortly after leaving the harbour. I’d come across these dolphins a couple of times in Corio Bay, but this was always one dolphin and it was a fair way out. Here, some of them swum very close to the boat. We were able to get good views of the adults and their young. I learned that the young have a special technique to suckle the milk of the mother without getting sea water in their mouth. They do this by rolling their tongue.

The above photo isn’t of these dolphins, as I was struggling to get good photos at this point. The light was definitely working against us. However so many were jumping out of the water. There were so many, it was brilliant.

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We went out of the bay and quickly come across another active pod of dolphins. The staff initially thought they were male burrunan but then decided they were regular bottlenose. Decision points included size and how worn the dorsal fins were. I’m not knowledgeable enough to say that we definitely saw any, so am deferring to their knowledge and counting it towards my mammal life list.

I loved it. They too were jumping a lot. Due to the distance though my photos were mediocre.

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Mike (the skipper) is well connected with other boats in the harbour and had gotten reports of where a pod of common dolphins were. After spending time with the bottlenose, we ventured out. I loved this part. Outside of the bay, the water was a bit rougher. There was a decent swell and I loved the feeling of the boat going up and down on the open ocean.

Recently, I’ve been trialing new anxiety medication. I’d been on it for 6 months and the nausea had been horrible. Even long car trips made me uneasy. I had stopped that medication about 3 weeks earlier and was feeling fantastic. It was so refreshing to be out, exploring the open ocean, without having to worry about nausea. I even stood up and held on while the boat was moving (at slower speeds) and just felt so free.

It’s a silly feeling, but I’d barely left the house in the past year. It felt so awesome to be back to normal.

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At one point during the tour we came across this shy albatross. It was identified as black browed on the day and I got excited, as that would have been a lifer.

I checked my bird books and doubled checked with a Facebook group when at home and it is definitely a shy. At no point does a black browed have a yellow tip at the end of its nose. I’m not judging the tour company as bird identification can be quite the bitch at times. I was just hoping to see some new seabirds without doing a pelagic – pelagics have a much higher rate of sea sickness!

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Heading back inside the bay,  we also saw this sea lion just hanging upside down. It felt like the perfect finale.

~

It was a brilliant trip. Over the past year, I’ve noticed that I’m becoming more interested in the ocean then I am by birdwatching. I still love birds, but tend to obsess over specific environments or species. The ocean is so vast and has so many unknowns.

I had to push all nature hobbies aside while I was sick, so this reminded me just how much I want to learn about the marine environment. I’m obsessed with learning as much as I can about Port Phillip Bay. It’s just the budget that is limiting me.

I’m keen to return to explore the gannet colony and mud islands, when the budget allows. Also keen to learn more about the burrunan dolphin popular at Gippsland Lakes.

If your in the region, I highly recommend it.

Notes:

Small and isolated dolphin populations are under threat

Filed Under: Port Phillip Bay

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